Wed May 10, 2017

After HB1913 passed, threatening to triple the cap on small personal loans and boost the maximum interest rate to 204% per year, VOICE leaders and allies persisted in their fight against the bill.

Leaders publicly called on Governor Mary Fallin to veto the bill, on television and in writing arguing, as did Fr. Tim Luschen, that the bill is “not anything that can make our community a better place.”

In her veto message, Governor Fallin urged legislators to consult with “all stakeholders,” including consumer advocates, if they choose to revisit the issue.

Mon Mar 16, 2015

For the second time in one year, IAF organizations (EPISO and Border Interfaith) dealt a harsh blow to the bottom line of payday lenders in El Paso, Texas.

During last year’s fight to restrict how much payday lenders can legally make off the backs of lower-income families, opponents from the lending industry couched their financial predation under the guise of “providing a valuable service” to residents. After winning a significant victory in 2014 limiting payday lending profits, leaders wanted more.

In financial literacy civic academies held in the poorest neighborhoods of El Paso, families revealed that when a tire blew, or a child got sick, they needed fast cash. They had the capacity to repay small loans, but were shut out of traditional consumer credit markets due to lack of income or credit…(more here)

Thu Aug 11, 2011

Southweast Wisconsin Common Ground successfully negotiated over $4 million in housing re-investment from financial institutions whose foreclosures had devastated the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee.

Thu Aug 11, 2011

Pastor Soliney Vedrine and Winique Green look on as testimony is given about the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's Moving from Debt to Asset's program. This groundbreaking financial empowerment program has graduated more than 700 graduates and provided each of them with $500 scholarships to begin a financial savings plan.

In the News

VOICE Leverages Bill Veto of Oklahoma Governor

After HB1913 passed, threatening to triple the cap on small personal loans and boost the maximum interest rate to 204% per year, VOICE leaders and allies persisted in their fight against the bill.

Leaders publicly called on Governor Mary Fallin to veto the bill, on television and in writing arguing, as did Fr. Tim Luschen, that the bill is “not anything that can make our community a better place.”

In her veto message, Governor Fallin urged legislators to consult with “all stakeholders,” including consumer advocates, if they choose to revisit the issue.

DAI, Catholic Church Credited with Blocking Arlington Payday Lending

"Catholic congregations and leaders ...were central in the push for payday lending reform in nearby Arlington. Father Daniel Kelley of St. Joseph Catholic Church was particularly influential. In addition, the Texas Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of Texas’ Catholic bishops, worked directly on payday lending reform at the state and local level, and also participated in Dallas Area Interfaith and Faith Leaders for Fair Lending. Hearing stories from borrowers who sought assistance from Catholic charitable organizations helped generate interest in the payday issue among Catholic leaders.345 The religion’s long‐standing antipathy to usury provided these leaders with a ready‐made framework for opposing payday loans...." See more on page 81.

North Texas IAF WINS Payday Lending Reform in Arlington, TX

After undergoing a congregational development process in partnership with the North Texas IAF that involved 3,000 parishioners – 600 of which participated in small group encounters led by 80 ministry leaders — leaders of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish in Arlington, Texas were astounded by the number of stories about payday lending...

North Texas IAF Takes on Payday Lenders w/ TX Catholic Conference

Fr. Daniel Kelly of St. Joseph Catholic Church and North Texas IAF – in partnership with the Texas Catholic Conference — hosted a press conference at his church announcing a coordinated interfaith effort to place limits on payday and title loan lending. During a listening campaign that involved 3,000 parishioners in small group conversations and parish development sessions, “every week another member of my parish [told] a horror story about one of these loans. They debilitate our families.”

Citizens UK Calls on (Payday) Lenders to 'Respect the Cap'

Campaigners will today mark a new cap on payday loans by calling on the Government to set up a community finance fund. New rules from the Financial Conduct Authority will require lenders to cap their interest rates at 0.8% a day, charge no more than £15 for a default, and never charge a customer more than twice the amount they originally borrowed. Wonga, the UK's biggest payday lender, has responded by imposing a cap on the cost of its short-term loans."

'Together Louisiana' Moves Legislative Bill on Payday Lending

With the press calling it “the sleeper issue of the session,” leaders from ‘Together Louisiana,’ stormed the Capitol to testify in Committee hearings and weigh in on debate over payday lending in Louisiana...

Acting Together for Economic Justice

Today's decision to cap the cost of payday loans did not emerge in a vacuum. It is the fruit of years of determined campaigning, which started in churches, mosques and synagogues in some of Britain&#39;s poorest neighbourhoods. Indeed, George Osborne's announcement comes exactly four years after 2000 members of the religious and civic institutions in Citizens UK asked all three parties' Treasury spokesmen to adopt precisely this policy.

Austin Interfaith Celebrates Progress on Living Wages

A diverse mix of Labor Union representatives, city and county elected officials, faith-based organizations and advocates for fair wages and working conditions came to the Workers Defense Project office Tuesday night…to celebrate a move by the county regarding tax incentives, a move many are hoping the city of Austin will follow.

Eric Schneiderman is right to fight Obama administration's bad foreclosure settlement with the banks

While most attention is focused on a drawn-out debt crisis in Washington and spasmodic demonstrations in several cities, the most important economic and political battle of the period is being played out largely under the radar.